NBA Finals notebook: Referees to honor ailing colleague

NBA referees will wear the No. 57 on their jerseys during the Finals to honor longtime official Greg Willard.

The National Basketball Referees Association says Willard recently was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Willard worked games in this season’s playoffs, including one just last week between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics.

He had been scheduled to work Game 6 of the Spurs’ Western Conference finals in Oklahoma City but was a late scratch because of what officials originally described as a blood infection.

Rodney Mott was the alternate official and took over for Willard that night.

The NBRA says it is honoring Willard as a “gesture of support” for him and his family, and is doing so in cooperation with the NBA.

Willard has been an NBA referee for 24 seasons, with more than 1,500 regular-season games, 120 playoff

games and Finals appearances since 2010 on his résumé.

Mum on Bosh: Miami coach Erik Spoelstra isn’t saying whether he’ll put All-Star forward Chris Bosh back into the starting lineup or keep bringing him off the bench now that the Heat are in the Finals.

Bosh started every game he played during the regular season and until he suffered an abdominal injury during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Indiana, but played as a reserve in the final three games of the conference finals against Boston.